Sunday, January 25, 2015

Music Business/Law Tips - Chart Changes

From 2015 onward, Billboard has changed their tally system as to the types of data that will be included in deciphering what records deserve to be on the Top 200 Album Chart.
At least for the last 15 years or so, the Album Chart just included actual sales that could be verified by Sound Scan (i.e., bar code reads).
Now, streaming (e.g., Spotify) and other digital metric data will also be included in the calculations. In particular, 1500 song streams will now equate to one album sale, and 10 digital single track tales will now equate to one album sale.
It is anticipated that this modern system may skew the Chart toward new and younger acts like Ariana Grande who have a very active online audience.
Ben McLane Esq
Benmclane.com